Attack of the Filler Arc
by sky77
Summary: When Inuyasha and company get fed up with the main storyline, they decide to take a leap into the filler and fanfiction realm, where just about anything can happen… [Ch 5: Kagome and Inuyasha's study war reaches its startling conclusion!] IxK, SxM
1. Prologue: In Which the Gang Leaves

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me- I'm just borrowing them for this fic and I promise not to lend them to anyone else, get a single stain on them, or shrink them in the washer. So Takahashi-san and I are cool (see Prologue). 

Setting: Takes place sometime before the Shichinintai arc

Author's Notes: Hey all- this is my first time on ff.net and this is my first fic, so as a typical newbie who is eager to get feedback, I ask that you simply scroll down to the bottom and click on the "submit review" button (reading the story first is recommended). Anyway, this story is different from my usual writing style, but then again, writing styles change and I'm still experimenting. I hope you like it though. So yeah, without further ado, on w/ the fic!

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Prologue

"GO KIRARA!!!!"

The ground shivered as the cat youkai, more deadly and powerful than ever before, carved out a path of destruction before her. The group of five kept their eyes on the charging predator, wide-eyed and breathless like five NBA coaches watching the ball sail steadily towards the hoop. She was headed straight for the figure dressed in the baboon robe, and this time, he did not have enough time to escape...

With a thundering roar and a single sweep of her paws, she severed the figure in half. The cat youkai landed gracefully on the ground and looked expectantly at Inuyasha, who immediately took up Tetsusaiga and aimed it at their fated enemy. 

"KAZE NO KIZU!!!!" It was all over in an instant. 

When the smoke and debris had cleared like the morning fog, they found a barren wasteland not unlike the first time they had encountered Naraku. The baboon himself wasn't to be found. 

Nearly turning blue from holding his breath for so long, Shippo whispered, "Is he dead?"

Kirara only growled in satisfaction. 

Miroku was the first on the scene. He motioned for Inuyasha to follow him, and cautiously bore his right hand in front of him, ready to strip off the rosary and dispose of any unwanted waste in an instant. The two girls watched as the monk kneeled down in the battlefield and pulled out a charred unidentifiable object. The others waited silently for the verdict. 

All of a sudden, Miroku fell over. "Houshi-sama!" Sango exclaimed, rushing to his side. The monk stood up again, wearing a funny expression on his face. "He... he's gone," he said, sounding as if he had had one too many cups of sake. 

Sango gasped. "You mean... he's dead?"

"No. He got away again. We were fighting another puppet."

The silence hung awkwardly as if Kaede had suddenly appeared, danced around the battlefield, and then disappeared into the air. And then, several things happened in succession...

"What???" cried Kagome.

"Nooooo!!!" Shippo wailed. 

"It can't be!!!" Sango exclaimed. 

"Mew!!!" Kirara hissed indignantly, thinking to herself that just when she had been the one to get the glory for her actions, the Naraku she had fought had turned out to be fake. 

"%#@$%!!!" Inuyasha exclaimed, and whacked furiously away at the ground with Tetsusaiga, bellowing out every dirty word and curse he could think of, and when he had gone through his entire vocabulary, he started to make up some new ones. 

Miroku, as the level-headed member of the group, started to calm everyone down, but then decided against it as he was honestly getting tired of the "Hey, there's always next time" spiel he delivered every time Naraku got away. He sat down and began to meditate, hoping that the storm would be over soon. 

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was shouting angrily at the sky, shaking his sword up in the air like a deranged old man. Kagome was forced to sit him at this point. The hanyou sprang back up from the ground, clearly not amused. "Kagome, what the hell did you do that for?"

"I know that you're upset," Kagome scolded, "but I can tell you that you're not the only one. Don't you think that everyone is as disappointed as you are? And you don't see me or Sango-chan or Miroku-sama screaming like that."

"This is completely screwed up," he mumbled, glowering at her. "We _should've_ killed him this time, and now look what happens! He gets away AGAIN. It's been, what, five frickin' times this has happened? And nothing ever changes, either! We just go on our little travels and we're always one step behind. What kind of a $%#@&*^ plot are we following, anyway?"

There was dead silence as Inuyasha spoke those last words. The birds were no longer chirping, and the dramatic music that had been playing in the background had stopped. Everyone stared in amazement and horror at Inuyasha, whom they were sure would be struck by lightning at any given time. No one- not one of them- had ever complained about the plot. Inuyasha's other blasphemies were nothing compared to this. 

It seemed as if Inuyasha was regretting his words too, as he suddenly glanced around him nervously, half-expecting something to jump out and make him suffer. Then, Miroku spoke up also. "I actually have to agree with Inuyasha. There's been almost no character development in the entire time we've been together. I haven't changed since Day 1."

"Yes, that's true," Kagome also admitted. _And not to mention that we haven't had any relationships develop_, she thought to herself sadly. 

Sango sighed. "This really is tiring sometimes. We've all suffered and lost so much just to hunt Naraku down and take him down."

Shippo jumped onto his feet and waved his arms in excitement. "Yeah! We need to do something about it! We can't just sit around and be forced to do something someone else wants us to do!"

Kirara mewed in support, and Inuyasha grinned broadly. "All right then. Do we all agree to leave the main plot for now? We haven't had a break in a long time."

Everyone nodded their assent. 

"Then here we go!!!!!" 

As Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga down, the blade shimmered a fiery red. The deadly edge sliced through the air. It was a brief and swift cut, but it was effective. Almost immediately, the air tingled and seemed to melt into a colorful mosaic. A plot hole immediately opened up, and without a second thought, everyone hopped in. 

* * *

Meanwhile, in the studio…

"Hey! Wake up!"

"Huh? What? Is this scene done already?"

The director slapped his hand to his face, irritated at the crewman who had fallen asleep. He grabbed the poor man by his shirt and pointed a shaking finger at him. "Now listen to me- it was your job to make sure when to switch the camera and change scenes! Look at that screen over there! They're gone already!"

The crewman glanced at the large monitor in front of them. The screen showed a desolate barren wasteland that the gang had left not long after they had discovered that the Naraku they had fought was a fake. True enough, the Inu-gumi was nowhere to be found. 

"I don't believe it- I should've fired you a long time ago. Now ratings are going to go down again if viewers are left staring at a blank screen," the director was muttering. 

"Ano…"

"Don't make any excuses!" he shouted. 

"Ano… I already checked with the other members of the studio, and they haven't seen them either. They're just…gone. They might've already left the TV realm by now…"

"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!"

* * *

"I don't believe this," Takahashi-san murmured in distress over the phone. "How can my own characters that I've created do this to me?" It was early in the morning, and she was about to work on some more chapters for the next volume of manga. It worried her to think that something like this would happen. 

"Please don't worry," the director said to Takahashi-san over on the other line. "We promise to get this situation under control immediately. However, we've just received word that they're currently in the fanfiction realm."

"Oh no!" Takahashi-san moaned. "Now they'll never come back to the main plot! There are probably thousands of fanfics all over the internet- how are we going to persuade them to get back to where they belong?"

The director sighed. "Well, this calls for some drastic action," he said.

* * *

"Hmm? Yes, I understand, Takahashi-san. Don't worry, I'll handle the situation. All right, yes. So I have your permission then? Thank you. All right, take care."

The call had been completely unexpected, but I didn't mind. As I hung up the phone, I grew excited. I had just received permission from Rumiko Takahashi to use whatever means necessary to convince the cast to get back into their usual jobs, after all. 

I turned to my computer and opened up a new blank document. After pausing for a second, I typed, "Attack of the Filler Arc, by Sky77."

I grinned. So Inu-tachi had some complaints about the main plot, huh? This was going to be very interesting, indeed…

* * *

**A/N**: No, this isn't a self-insert fic. The rest of the chapters are…well, you'll see ^-^

Edit: 2/17/04


	2. Oh, the Strength of Pantene ProV Classic...

Oh, the Strength of Pantene Pro-V Classic Hairspray: Ultra Firm Hold!

(As told by Inuyasha)

Ow. 

It's been a while since it happened, and I still haven't fully recovered. Damn, that thing's scary. I never want to see it again. 

If you're wondering what happened, I, Inuyasha, was beat up by an object. Yes, I admit it. And it was a frickin' inanimate object, at that.

But hey, who wouldn't blame me for underestimating it? It had looked innocent enough. I mean, it was just another item from Kagome's bag, for crying out loud. I glanced at it just once and figured it would be harmless. 

I have never been more wrong in my life.  

************************************************************************

It all started that afternoon we were camping by the stream. 

It was too damn hot to travel, and so I picked a shady spot not far from the village we left earlier that day. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the heat was getting to everybody, even me. By the time we stopped to rest, I was sweating heavily.

The resting spot was at the top of a hill, dotted by trees. Shippo kept calling me a dog 'cause of the way I was panting, but I shut him up with a warning glare. As I fixed myself up onto a nice wide branch, I vaguely wondered why if my haori protects me from fire, it didn't seem to work on heat…

Finally, the women decided that they couldn't stand the swelter anymore, so they took off towards the stream. I was instructed to keep an eye on Miroku, but I really didn't need to, because one stolen glance at Sango's rear end as they walked off made him fan himself heavily. I guess even monks can keel over from high body temperatures.

So there we were, sitting in a circle of trees that were barely keeping us cool. Shippo was asleep next to Kirara at the bottom of the tree I was propped up in, and Miroku was meditating, trying his best to keep his body away from the sun. Ugh, the sun…

I jumped back down from the tree onto the yellow grass, bored. "They'd better get back soon," I muttered. I was getting irritated. Did females contain some sort of genetic flaw that always made them take half the day to get clean?

Miroku opened one eye with a faint effort. The glare of the sun didn't permit both eyes. "Try to relax, Inuyasha. As soon as the sun starts to sink back down, we'll start off. You need to conserve your energy."

I snorted, but I didn't argue. The bouzo had a point there. 

As I turned my head back towards the place where the two women had disappeared ages ago, something shiny caught my eye. 

I shielded my eyes, and bent down on the grass. 

It was definitely something from Kagome's world. The object was somehow familiar, resembling a silver tube. I turned it over. _Pantene Pro-V, Ultra Firm Hold? _

I racked my brain, desperately trying to think in spite of the heat waves. I looked down again at the object I now held in my palm and frowned seriously at it, as if I was trying to solve a very manly problem.  

"What is it, Inuyasha?" 

Miroku rose from his resting place and peered at the item.

"It's something I found on the ground," I said, displaying the object. "It must've fallen out of Kagome's bag. She told me what it was once, but now I can't remember."

Miroku stared at it, strangely uncomfortable. "Um… Inuyasha? It you don't know what it is, then don't you think you should put it down before something happens?"

I tossed the tube lightly in my hands. "Feh! Don't worry about it! It's just a weak human invention, at any rate. It can't be dangerous." I glanced down through a small hole in the tube and also discovered a button I hadn't noticed before. 

And then I pressed the button just to show how harmless it was. 

Something darted out of the hole- the next instant, my eyes felt like they were on fire. I roared and immediately dropped the can, covering my eyes.

"AAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" were my exact words. 

I had never felt so vulnerable before. I still had my nose intact, of course, but dammit, my eyes really stung! And worse, I couldn't see, so I was blindly clawing at the air. If I could only find this damned thing and tear it to bits!

My mind was racing. So the mysterious object was actually a weapon. Even through the agony, I wondered if Kagome had finally gotten tired of sitting me whenever I did something and brought along this new horror, ready to unleash it upon me when her temper flared. I shuddered just thinking about it. 

I felt Miroku's arm wrap around mine, shouting something along the lines of, "Inuyasha! Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!"

My foot struck something hard and metallic on the ground… it was _right under my foot!!_

But before I could react, I lost my balance and I fell down on the grass, dragging Miroku down with me. Unfortunately, since the resting spot we had settled for was on top of a hill, we rolled all the way down to the bottom…

Where there was a clump of thorny bushes. 

"AAAARRGGGHHHHH!!!" You can guess who that was. 

The noise must've woken up Shippo, because I heard some shouting up on the hill. By then, I could open my eyes slightly and see blurred shapes, and I was thirsty for revenge. 

Something shiny on the ground caught my eye. There it was! I would end it by smashing it onto the ground. I instinctively reached for the bright object, and brought it down hard on the first thing I saw: a strange dark-colored rock that was lying on the ground. 

"Oomph!"

 Too late, I realized that the "evil weapon" I held in my hand was Miroku's shakujo, and that the "rock" I had just struck the shakujo on was Miroku.

I was starting to get really, really ANGRY. Not just angry, but ANGRY.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!! What happened? Are you and Miroku-sama all right?" Shippo came hurtling down the hill. 

I reached for my beloved Tetsusaiga. Together we would send this bastard down to hell. 

This time, I saw it. It was lying a few feet from where we had landed. I aimed for the center of the tube and swung down hard. 

The force of the impact was totally unexpected. Instead of cleaving the can in half, which was what should've happened, Tetsusaiga actually _rebounded_ from the impact. I could feel the ringing through my arms. The tiny can instead hurtled through the air at an incredible speed and landed onto Shippo's head. 

Shippo gave a small grunt, and then fell backwards, unconscious. 

I had had it. I was nearly blind, I had thorns imbedded in me, and Miroku and Shippo had both fallen at the hands of this monster (okay, so it was at my hands technically- but the thing was still evil). It needed to be stopped, right now.

I tossed the thing as hard as I could towards the hill and prepared to make the final blow.

"KAZE NO KIZU!!!!!!"

The hill of trees erupted into light. Literally. The explosion caused by Tetsusaiga, combined with the extreme heat, was more powerful and destructive than I had meant it to be. Uh-oh. 

I watched, rooted to the spot, as the attack ripped through the hill and then spread out in a larger explosion that was definitely going to flatten the area…

 "Oh …." I muttered a few colorful phrases to myself. 

When the smoke had cleared, I didn't bother looking around. There wasn't anything to see. The entire hill had been leveled. For a moment I just stood there. Then, I suddenly realized that it was gone, turned into ashes. 

I started to laugh. It was a really twisted laugh that rivaled Naraku's laugh in the Insane Villains Category. I slid Tetsusaiga back into its sheath victoriously and laughed even harder. "Take that, bitch!" I screeched. 

But then I heard a metallic clang somewhere close by…

And then I saw something silver roll down towards the direction of the stream, stopping gently at a pair of delicate feet. 

It was Kagome. 

She had a towel wrapped around her, and I watched in horror as Kagome, completely unaware of the mortal danger she was in and the destruction the thing had caused, stooped and picked it up. She was muttering something about how she had forgotten to take it with her. I rushed forward in slow motion, waving my arms wildly…

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But I was too late. 

She had already pressed the button, and she was spraying into her hair…Wait a minute- her hair?????

Kagome smiled softly and lifted her eyes, noticing me for the first time. She dropped the can, her mouth wide open in shock. "I- INUYASHA!!!!"

All right, I don't blame her for fainting on the spot. 

As soon as I examined the "weapon" again, I read the rest of the label: …The Ultimate Hairspray, virtually indestructible…for an extra firm hold and the style you love with 70% more shine…

I glanced back down at Kagome, whose hair was, true enough… nice and shiny. 

*****************************************************************

So now Miroku, Shippo, and I are recovering in what's left of the surrounding area. Kagome decided (wisely) to put all her stuff away for the evening. 

"Inuyasha?"

I turned around. It was Kagome. "How's your arm feeling?" My left arm had gotten burned slightly from the Kaze no Kizu. 

"I'm fine, it was just a scratch," I mumbled. I was still humiliated. 

Sango was tending to Miroku, who was slowly gaining consciousness. Sango took note of this and scooted her rear away from his hand. "He'll be all right," she said, sighing. 

Shippo was clinging to Kagome and would not let go. Every time he was reminded of the bottle of hairspray, he would squeak and dig himself further into Kagome's chest. 

Little brat.

But I guess having a bottle of hairspray fly towards you at a high speed would scare you. Hell, it scared _me when it squirted in my eye. _

Kagome was stroking Shippo absentmindedly when she suddenly blushed. "Hey Inuyasha? Could you please get my razor and shampoo bottles? I just remembered I left it by the stream."

I grumbled and muttered, "Feh! Why can't you get your own stuff?", but I got up and headed towards the stream. 

The items lay in a neat little row on the grass. I scooped them up in my arms and played with the razor, tossing it lazily up and down. Suddenly one of the bottles slipped. I bent down to reach it. When I looked up again, the razor was headed straight for my nose. 

"AAAARRGGGHHHHH!!!"

I swear I will never touch another one of Kagome's stuff. 

*******************************************************************

Next Time on Attack of the Filler Arc: 50-odd consecutive days of absences from school is finally its toll on Kagome- what will happen to her when she finds this out? And wait- did Kagome just challenge Inuyasha to a competition?


	3. Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai: Part I

**A/N: **Yay! Thanks for all the reviews, you guys! They really made me feel all giddy and excited. I really appreciate the feedback. 

Kawaii Lara-Chan: Thank you so much for your review! You were the first one, and for that you get extra kudos from me. You have no idea how nervous I was when I checked my review box. I was so afraid that there wouldn't be any- so thanks a lot!

Snippets: The almighty aqua-angel has reviewed! Thanks for encouraging me and helping me with the chapters. (Note to readers: everyone read aqua-angel's stories on fictionpress.com- they're really good ^ - ^)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The style and tone changed slightly for Kagome's character- it's not as crazy as the last chapter, but still pretty light and good 'ole filler-ish. Now on with the chapter!!

Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai (Part I)

(As told by Kagome)

It was a perfect day. 

The sky was cloudless this afternoon, the sun wasn't roasting us (thankfully), and the spot we were resting at had a beautiful crop of trees. I yawned and smiled. 

It was finally time to take out my books and catch up on the fifty-odd days I had missed at school helping gather the Shikon shards and fighting evil youkai. Time-traveling had really helped me with my time management skills, at least. 

I opened my math book and started to read the section I had placed a bookmark on: sine and cosine graphs. I scratched my chin lightly, frowning. Somehow this didn't seem familiar. I turned the page...

Backwards.

The FOIL method? Nothing clicked in my brain. I turned another page back. Still nothing. I bit my lip. A horrible thought was starting to form in my head, but still I kept turning the page and skimming, trying desperately to find a familiar subject, anything! Finally, I smiled. Ah! Now this looked familiar! 5x + 8 = ? 

My eyes widened in shock. No, it couldn't be! My math skills had been reduced to doing basic algebra! 

I opened my history book. Who was Lenin? Wasn't he the president of the United States of America during the 100 Year's War? Or was that King Charles III? I could remember reading all about it in school, but now, why I couldn't remember anything? I tried to calculate when I had last studied. It had been nearly seven weeks. So that meant at school, my class was three chapters ahead. Or was it twelve? I closed my books solemnly, as my worst fears had been confirmed.  

I was getting dumb. 

With this new revelation, I calmly got up from where I was sitting, and calmly decided on what I was going to do: I screamed. 

"What are you yelling for, wench? Stop it! You're damaging my ears!"

I froze. I had completely forgotten about Inuyasha. One of his pet peeves, aside from Shippo on a sugar high, was me screaming. I frowned, and turned to meet him. 

I was a little surprised to see his expression: he looked worried. His ears were perked up, but I was sure it wasn't from annoyance. He must've been on the alert and thought I was in danger when I had screamed. No wonder he was angry with me. I softened up at that point, but then he just had to open his mouth again. 

"If you're getting dumb, it's no reason to scream your head off!" His eyes were amused. 

"I am not getting dumb!!!!" I shrieked. I covered my mouth and immediately wished I hadn't said that. Inuyasha, on the other hand, looked triumphant. 

"Admit it- I heard you say distinctly that you couldn't remember anything from your books," he said, smirking. 

I flushed. Those extra-sensitive ears of his were really irritating sometimes. "Were you eavesdropping on me again?" I asked, on the defensive. It was a bad move. 

The hanyou's ears perked up in annoyance. "Feh! I didn't need to eavesdrop on you- anyone could hear you for miles with that incredibly loud high-pitched voice of yours!"

I could feel my face darkening, but unfortunately for him Inuyasha didn't notice the warning signs.  

3...

"What are you so upset about, anyway?"

2...

"Studying in a school is a lot easier than chopping off youkai heads. Can't you pull yourself together and memorize a few things?"  

1...

"Hell, if I went to school, I bet I could do a lot better than you!"

"OSUWARI!! OSUWARI!! OSUWARI!! OSUWARI!! OSUWARI!! OSUWARI!!!!!!!"

There. That made me feel better. 

I dusted off my hands next to the Inuyasha-shaped crater in the ground, and stood up, gathering up my dignity. A faint groaning could be heard. "Wench," I heard him mutter. 

"Osuwari!" I added for good taste. 

Another thud, and a groan. 

I was about to walk away, when suddenly a light turned on in my head. It wasn't my memory, unfortunately, but it was good enough to make me smile. Inuyasha needed to learn a lesson. To be honest, I was kind of getting tired of sitting him every time. I turned around 180 degrees, and put on my best innocent smile. Inuyasha looked up at me with a resentful glare. 

"Say, Inuyasha," I said silkily, "You may be right." 

The hanyou struggled to his feet, swaying. He stared at me, confused. "About what?" 

"You may be right when you said you would do better than me in school. After all, you're the one who does all the work around here. If it's anyone who's going to defeat Naraku, it's definitely you. I just don't have that kind of strength." And then I glanced down modestly, as if I had just poured out my soul to him. There. That surely did it. 

As I expected, there was a dumbfounded silence for a while. Then, I sensed him shifting uncomfortably as he no doubt suspected that something was going on. I could practically feel the internal dilemma, debating whether to voice his suspicions or not. Finally, he folded his arms and said, "Why are you telling me this?"

I grinned slowly, and I swear he cringed slightly. I was giggling inside. "Well, you said so yourself that you could do better than me, right? Well, here's your chance to prove it: we're going to have a contest to see who's the smarter one, you or me. Of course, since you're already so sharp, you'll beat me for sure."

For a moment, he was silent. And then, a smirk slowly replaced his thoughtfulness. "All right then. I get what you're trying to do. You want to make me think that this will be easy by flattering me, and then humiliate me on the day of the contest. Well, I accept your challenge. I'll study hard from your books and I'll beat you, hands down."

I gritted my teeth as he smiled haughtily. So he had caught on to my plans. If he really did train, I would have a tough opponent on my hands. Fine then. I would prove him the better. 

I smiled again. "Very well. We'll have three days to prepare. Sango-chan, Miroku-sama, and Shippo-chan will write up the questions and be the judges."

He grinned in turn. "Fine by me. But I'm warning you, I'll be tough to beat." And with that he walked off, gathering half of my books and obviously smug with himself. 

I crossed my arms, glancing at his retreating back. 

Hmph. I can beat him. I'm sure I can. All I need is some really intensive studying...

*********************************************************************

"You're going to what?!" was Sango-chan's reaction when I told her about the contest. We were sitting under a tree together. I had just come back from making the deal with Inuyasha, and was convincing her to help set up the contest. Miroku-sama tilted his head curiously and Shippo-chan bounced around excitedly. I made a mental note to hide the chocolates from him next time, and explained the conversation we had. 

The others listened earnestly while I talked, and when I was finished, Miroku-sama spoke. "So you two finally snapped, huh?"

This wasn't the kind of reaction I had been expecting. "What do you mean?" I demanded, waving my arms impatiently. "This is my one chance to prove Inuyasha wrong! I've been putting up with his sarcastic comments and retorts about my schoolwork for ages, and now I can finally embarrass him and show him what a pain it is!"

I crossed my arms, unaware that I resembled a certain ill-tempered hanyou...

The others looked at each other. "Well," Sango-chan finally said, "It should be interesting, at the very least." 

I jumped up. "So you two will be the judges?" I exclaimed. They nodded. 

At this point, Shippo-chan jumped up. "I want to enter the contest, too!" He whined. "It sounds like so much fun, Kagome!" 

"I'm not sure if you're up to it, Shippo," Miroku-sama told him gently. "Kagome is learning very complicated things in her school, and besides, I'm sure she and Inuyasha want to go at it alone."

Although he probably hadn't meant to suggest anything, my face started to turn scarlet at the innuendo. "Well, anyway," I said hastily, "I'm going to go study now. Remember, we both get only three days!" I walked off to a quiet section of the campsite where I could study in peace. 

There, I flounced down on the grass and took several deep breaths. I opened up my books and read at a furious pace, driven by a new passion for learning. It wasn't half-bad. 

Inuyasha didn't stand a chance against me...

**********************************************************************

It was getting cold. Opening my eyes, I could see that the sun had hid itself behind the clouds. It was going to be a chilly morning. 

I yawned and stretched, causing several pages of notes and textbooks to slide off of me and my sleeping bag. I quickly gathered them up again to save them from the damp grass.  

Somehow, they had become something like my favorite stuffed animal overnight, and feeling them close to me as I slept gave me a very cozy feeling. If I had predicted before that it would come down to me being this affectionate about my schoolwork, I would have jumped off the nearest tall building to spare myself. At least when you're dead you can't dream about molecular theory and British imperialism, which was what had actually happened to me overnight.  

I got up and headed for the stream, reciting the periodic table in my head and humming an aria from Verdi's "La Traviata". 

And this was just the beginning of Day Two.

**********************************************************************

"Scholasticism, the system of education and philosophy whose goal was to reconcile the philosophy of Aristotle and the church, was practiced only by the educated clergy..."

As Sango-chan passed me a bowl of ramen during breakfast, I was as always burrowed in my books. Yesterday, I had studied until the sun had gone down and there wasn't enough light anymore. I had already made good progress and I was confident that Inuyasha wouldn't be anywhere near the level that I had reached. 

Suddenly I blinked and looked up from my textbook. "Say, where is Inuyasha, anyway?" I asked. There was an extra bowl of ramen next to me, a sure sign that the hanyou hadn't stopped by. 

Miroku-sama, Sango-chan, and Shippo-chan were seated around the campfire like I was, and glanced at each other. "He's off in the woods somewhere," Sango explained. "He's been at it all last night and the last I checked, he was still studying." 

I frowned. Was he really this determined to win? I knew that I had an advantage over him because I knew a lot more about my world than he did, but at this rate...

I stood up. "I'm going to go find him and tell him to get some breakfast before he kills himself," I announced, determined to see just how well the hanyou was doing. 

"Wait, Kagome-sama!" Miroku-sama called. I turned to him. "I'm sorry, but Sango and I both agreed that the two of you are not allowed to see each other when training. In other words, no spying. You're going to have to wait until the day of the match."

I sighed. I gazed into the direction of the woods, trying to imagine whether Inuyasha really was pulling this off. Something about the mental image of him furrowing his brows at a book seemed strange to me.

"All right," I said finally, settling back down. Just then, Inuyasha himself came strolling up to the fire. "Ha!" he exclaimed, taking the bowl of ramen. "I knew that we were going to have something good this morning."

I peered at him from the corner of my eye. He seemed to be cheerful, but then again he always wore that expression when he was eating ramen. After trying to analyze Inuyasha's mood, I wrung my hands and gave up after a while. It was much easier to just go back to my studies. 

A few hours later after breakfast, I was sprawled out on the grass again, my textbooks flung around me as if they were a part of some occult ritual. Miroku-sama and Sango-chan were busy preparing the questions back at the campsite. Tapping my pen against my paper, I tried to solve a complex math problem involving more letters than numbers. I was lost in thought when suddenly a shadow crossed over the page I was looking at. 

Startled, I turned over and saw Inuyasha standing there. He must've been there a long time, because he snorted as soon as I noticed him. At least I didn't scream this time. 

I stood up to meet him. "What are you doing here, Inuyasha? I thought you weren't allowed to spy on me," I accused, crossing my arms. 

"I wasn't trying to spy on you," he said angrily. "If you want to know, I'm doing just as well and probably better than you are. I've already gone through four textbooks from the front to the back."

I flushed red. It couldn't be true, could it? I had only skimmed over three. 

"Well, Miroku-sama said specifically that we aren't allowed to see each other until the day of the competition. So you'd better leave right now."

I didn't like this. The conversation we were having reminded me of yesterday when we had first started our feud. Inuyasha only shrugged and said, "Having any second thoughts about the competition?"

"If you're only here to taunt me, then I'm going to leave," I retorted, picking up my books. I was amazed that I hadn't lost my temper. I walked across the field indignantly and settled under a tree. 

It was only after I opened my books did I realize that my notes were gone. 

******************************************************************

If I thought my nerves had been on edge before, they were definitely on fire now and beginning to rage out of control. Not surprisingly, Inuyasha had been the one who had poured the gasoline and lit the match. 

As I climbed slowly up the tree, struggling to keep my useless skirt from revealing any parts of my body they shouldn't be revealing, every nerve in my body was tinged with anger. I finally managed to balance lightly on a branch and I took the binoculars from around my neck.

After months of experience from spying on people, I knew exactly what I could and couldn't get away with. With Sango-chan and Miroku-sama's private moments, I could scream at the top of my lungs and they still wouldn't notice me (which is one of the reasons why I sincerely believe they're in love). Inuyasha, however, was another story. Trying to sneak up on him was as easy as trying to take a bone away from a dog. 

So this time, I decided to bring my binoculars. Even if I couldn't hear what he was doing, actions would be more than enough to confirm my suspicions. I peered through the lenses, scanning through the trees for where I thought Inuyasha had been earlier. 

I clenched my fist tightly. I was completely sure that he had stolen my notes. That was why he had come to "check up" on me. If I caught him copying down my notes, I was sure I would cause him some major pain. But on the other hand...

If Inuyasha had stolen my notes, it meant that he wasn't doing as well as he had bragged to me. I smiled as I spotted a streak of red in the middle of the trees, and focused the lens. 

And there they were. Inuyasha had the notes piled up on his lap, reading them one by one as if he would be caught any moment. Well, he already had been. I opened my mouth to say the word, but at the very last moment, I stopped myself. I hadn't yelled "Osuwari" since the day before, and I wasn't going to start now. I would have to think of some other way to make him pay. 

I was trying to think of a possible plan when suddenly I remembered why he was stealing my notes. I grinned evilly. I had a sudden burst of understanding for Naraku- it sure was fun to come up with all these schemes. Oh yes… 

To be continued...

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Next Time on Attack of the Filler Arc: Now that Kagome has challenged Inuyasha, what is in store for them? And how desperate is Inuyasha, anyway? It looks like Kagome has another evil plan up her sleeve- find out what it is soon!


	4. Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai: Part II

**A/N: ***slumps down, exhausted* Sorry about the wait, everyone. I was working on my other joint project story and neglected to update my poor Inuyasha fic -_-;; Anyway, this chapter would've been the conclusion of the two-part story except that when I went to upload this, it was 15 pages long @_@ So yep, I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to break "Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai" into not two, but **three parts. Which means that the conclusion of this mini-saga will come next chapter…*ducks frying pans and tomatoes* But I promise to be good and update within a week. Until then, Merry Christmas and God Bless!**

Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai (Part II)

(As told by Kagome)

The day was coming to an end as I strode casually through the forest, scanning for the hanyou. He was here somewhere, I knew. As I stepped through the fallen leaves and twigs, I made sure to make as much noise as possible. Soon enough, Inuyasha suddenly appeared and blocked my path to his study area. 

"What're you doing here?" he asked, folding his arms together and appearing to be calm. I noticed one nervous backward flick of his golden eyes toward the place where the notes were probably stashed. I could sense his extreme discomfort. 

"I was just checking up on you of course," I said sweetly. "I decided that the rules don't really matter. Since you got to see how I was doing, can't I check up on your progress?"

He shuffled nervously. "Well, I'm not stopping you, am I?" he said. He probably would've been more convincing if he had actually moved out of the way, but as it was, we were left staring at each other in the middle of the path. There was an awkward silence, at least on his behalf. Finally, I smiled innocently and shrugged. "Yeah, well, I guess I'd better go now. I wouldn't want to waste any more of my time anyhow. Good luck." 

And with that I turned away and began to leave. Several fresh pages of notes from my textbook slipped from under my arm. I pretended not to notice and kept walking. After a few paces through the dense thicket, I glanced back. Inuyasha had disappeared, and so had the notes that would've fallen to the ground. I grinned evilly. By the time he figured out my plot, it would be too late. 

**********************************************************************

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, and night found all of us gathered around the fire for dinner. Miroku-sama had gone off to a village not far away earlier but he hadn't returned with anything to eat. I stared glumly down at my cup of ramen. It was the third night we've had ramen in a row because all of us had been too lazy to find some real food. By now, ramen had as much appeal to me as a cup of soggy worms. Inuyasha, of course, dug in gratefully. It was funny- his lack of etiquette had never bothered me, but tonight...

Sssssshhhhhhhrrrruppppppp! I cringed as Inuyasha loudly slurped up his ramen.

I sighed again for the umpteenth time. Was he purposely trying to annoy me? His ears pricked up suddenly. He glared at me with an irritated expression. 

"What are you sighing for, wench? You're getting on my nerves," he stated frankly. 

I gritted my teeth. "I'm sighing because you won't stop slurping," I shot back. 

"What's wrong with slurping? Isn't it considered a compliment in your time?" 

"Don't play innocent with me. You're doing it just to vex me, aren't you?"

"Feh!" he exclaimed indignantly, tilting his chin up slightly, "And what do you call your 'woe to me' Thespian act? I think YOU'RE the one who's trying to annoy ME. It must be what you humans call PMS."

"OSU-"

"Kagome-chandon'tyoufeeltiredlet'sgotobedrightnow," said Sango-chan, dragging me away by the arm and not giving me a chance to answer. I glared back towards the campfire, where Inuyasha sat explaining to Miroku-sama about the psychological nature of females. 

Once we had settled down in our respective sleeping bags and layers of blankets, Sango-chan peered over at me and sighed. "You know, Kagome-chan, I have to warn you that the way things are going right now, you're going to kill each other on the actual day of the competition…"

I slipped down under my covers, letting out my breath slowly. "Well, it's just that he makes me so angry sometimes. It's like he doesn't know or care how I feel... and it's really irritating sometimes. I've tried to be patient with him because he's Inuyasha, but..."

I suddenly sprang back up. "I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE TO HIM THIS TIME!!!" I screamed out into the night. An owl suddenly grew silent.  

Sango-chan cringed, and groaned. "Yeah, yeah, say whatever you want- you're going down!!!" came the reply. 

"Why you-!"

And so it went for the rest of the night. 

**********************************************************

"The last emperor of China was finally taken from the throne in 1912, the same year that the revolution began..." I read. 

It was late afternoon, Day Three. Tensions were at an all-time high, as evidenced by me looking up every five minutes, suspicious that Inuyasha might suddenly pop up and spy on me again. Earlier in the day, we had had another big verbal duel, but lately it had been a bit quiet. I hadn't seen or heard from Inuyasha for a few hours now. 

I sighed in relief. Good. Now I could finally get some work done. I opened up my health book and continued to study. "Left ventricle, right ventricle, here's an artery, and the blood flows in this direction..."

"Kagome!!"

I glanced up immediately. 

"Kagome!!" A high-pitched voice cried out to me, and Shippo soon bounded over to where I was sitting. The miniature kitsune hurtled onto my lap and clung to me tightly. 

"What's wrong, Shippo-chan?" I said, surprised. 

The kitsune looked up at me with large teary eyes. "Waaahhh!! Kagome, it's my backpack- I was playing by the river and I decided to go away for a while, and when I came back it was gone! I looked everywhere but I couldn't find it!!"

I glanced down at him with a mixture of sympathy and worry. Shippo's backpack had been a present from me. I had decided that with all of Shippo's odd toys and knickknacks, he needed something to store it all away in. He had been delighted when I gave him the tiny backpack, proud to own something from my world. I hadn't seen him without it ever since I gave it to him, and no wonder, since it contained all of his treasures. 

I sighed. I gazed wistfully at my textbooks, but I assured Shippo that I would come along and help him find his backpack. The little kitsune danced gleefully alongside me as we headed towards the river. The riverside was barren and full of rocks, and we had to watch our step as we made our way down to the bank. 

Once we had reached the edge of the water, I gazed around me. Perhaps a wild animal or some creature had moved it somehow. Just a few days ago, Sango had left her Hiraikotsu by another river after polishing it. When she came back, she found that it was gone. We had searched everywhere for it, but in the end, Miroku-sama discovered that the giant boomerang had somehow gotten around a deer's neck. Goodness knows where the backpack was by now if a deer had had the strength to carry off Sango's ungodly-sized weapon. I was busy looking for signs and track marks when suddenly Shippo gave a cry, pointing at something in the distance.  

"Kagome! It's over there! Look!"

I followed Shippo's gaze further down the river. The current was violent, but in the middle of the river's path, laid a miniature island of rocks. The backpack was just visible and lay helpless like a damsel in distress, trapped on the stone fortress.  

I was puzzled. "How did it get there?" I muttered to myself. 

I then noticed that a large wide tree had toppled from the side of the bank where we were standing to the island, forming a bridge. It was very convenient for me... perhaps a little too convenient...

"Can you go get it?" Shippo squeaked suddenly, bringing me out of my trance. "That water's really scary and loud."

I hesitated at first. To be honest, the river was a little too rough for my liking. But finally, I gave in. "All right, Shippo-chan," I told him. "I'll go get it for you."

"Yay!" he exclaimed. "You're the best, Kagome!"

I smiled, and headed down the bank. I didn't have to walk far. There, the water was even more turbulent, but I steadied my nerve and tested the tree, making sure that it wouldn't rock. I stepped onto the wide trunk and cautiously made my way across. The tree held firm and didn't budge, and I made it onto the island without incident.

No sooner had I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard a sudden loud shifting noise behind me. My mouth dropped open as I turned in time to see the tree being swept away by the current. The little island was surrounded by water on all sides, and to swim across was suicide. I was trapped. 

As my brain was processing this fact, I caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of my eye. It was there for only a second, and at first I thought it was my imagination, but then it all made sense to me. It made so much sense that I felt angry at myself for being so stupid. But I was also unbelievably angry at someone else...

I could still get him. "OSUWARI!!" I shouted. 

I was immediately rewarded by a loud thump in the forest on the side of the river I had crossed from. "OSUWARI!!" I repeated, and another thump was heard, a little further away than before. 

The same pattern repeated itself again with me sitting Inuyasha, him landing flat into the ground, and him trying to run away again after each attempt. Finally, I could no longer hear the echoing thumps. I looked around me and sighed, sinking down. I was still trapped. 

"Inuyasha..." I hissed through my teeth. "You're going to get it this time- just you wait..."

"Kagome!!" Shippo called from the bank. I glanced up. "Don't worry, Kagome! I'll help you!" I grew ecstatic as I realized that Shippo could transform and get me off this thing. 

"Shippo-chan!" I shouted happily. "You're the best! You can get me across the water, right?"

All of a sudden, the little kitsune fidgeted awkwardly. He could barely bring himself to put a toe into the water before he backed up a long ways up the bank. 

"Umm... Shippo-chan?" 

"I...er...I'm sorry, Kagome, but I'm scared!" he wailed, looking at me with tear-filled eyes, and stomped his foot on the good 'ole solid ground for effect. 

It was times like these that I really thought twice about one day having kids. 

*****************************************************

"...I don't like this. I'm going to go look for Kagome-sama right now..." Miroku-sama was saying as I arrived. 

I cleared my throat loudly as I stepped into the campsite. The others were gathered around the fire, about to eat dinner. Sango-chan was in the middle of putting on her taijiya gear, probably ready to go look for me when I arrived on the scene. Shippo also appeared next to me with his head hung low in fright and exhaustion. Everyone with the exception of Inuyasha stared at me, and Kirara let out something like a hiss.  

Sango-chan's jaw dropped open at the sight of me. "Kagome-chan! What on earth happened to you?"

Besides being humiliated to the last degree, I was completely soaked.  My hair had become something like a nest; I had bits of dead leaves and even small fish stuck in my hair. My school uniform was clinging to my body tightly and anyone could see the finer details of my body, but right now I was beyond care. I was ready to kill Inuyasha, who was propped up comfortably against a rock with his head turned away from me. 

I bristled, remembering the ordeal. After several hours of pleading and bribing, I had finally convinced Shippo to help me back across. I couldn't send him to get Sango-chan or Miroku-sama because they had left the campsite sometime before and he didn't know where they were. He made it across onto the island safely by transforming into that pink balloon of his, but as we were heading back across the river, Shippo suddenly looked down at the raging water below and panicked. The rest was history. 

"You!" I breathed dangerously. I moved towards the expressionless hanyou. "You insidious little Machiavellian scum! You're the one who stole the backpack and sent me on this little adventure to the river, isn't it?"

He made no reply and made no move to look at me. 

Sango-chan gasped, and stood up.  "Inuyasha! You led Kagome there?? How could you do such a dangerous thing? Don't you know that that river is powerful enough to pull Kagome under??"

The hanyou flinched at this, and seemed to shrink away into himself. There was a long silence, and then he turned to me. I growled. Why was he looking at me in the eye now? I was so infuriated at this point that I didn't notice his regretful and shameful eyes. "Kagome, I'm-"

"OSUWARI!!"

I glared down at my feet where Inuyasha had landed. I turned and strode away at a brisk pace away from the campsite. Finally, I sank down, exhausted, onto the ground. I turned my head up towards the starry night, and sighed. Tomorrow...if only...

***************************************************************

The day of the competition had arrived. I had expected the weather to be stormy to compliment the mood I was in, but instead, as if to provoke me further, it turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day complete with birds chirping and flowers blooming.  

As I woke up and ate a hearty breakfast of, yet again, ramen (which didn't exactly help either), I was near a nervous breakdown. But finally, when everyone had gotten ready, Miroku-sama signaled for us to leave and led us along a new road. I traveled near the back of the group to avoid Inuyasha. 

"Hey, Miroku," Inuyasha said, "Where're you taking us? I thought we were having the competition."

The monk turned around and smiled. "Well, the campsite isn't exactly the best place for it, so I decided to give us a more workable setting. There's a quaint little village not far down this road."

Sango-chan, standing by my side, nudged me. "I don't like this. He's up to no good," she whispered. I sighed mentally, wondering what was in store now. 

I found out soon enough. The quaint little village turned out to be a well-sized town. As we neared the area, we saw what seemed to be millions of signs and posters all over the buildings and streets. I slowed down my pace and read one of them. I gasped. 

"Come and see two competitors, a hanyou and a girl from a place far away, duel in a fierce event: only one can be called the most knowledgeable and the wisest! Tickets are on sale right now! Don't miss this event!"

I turned slowly to Miroku-sama, ready to demand an explanation. But Sango-chan had already beaten me to it. 

"Houshi-sama!!" she threatened. "What is the meaning of this?"

He closed his eyes slightly and smiled innocently. "Well, when I saw all the drama that was happening, I couldn't resist. Many of these people here would love to see a competition between two such passionate-"

BANG.

Miroku-sama rubbed his head in a daze, where Sango-chan had bludgeoned him with Hiraikotsu. I was eternally grateful that she had not permitted him to finish that sentence. "I knew we couldn't trust you," she sighed. 

He smiled sheepishly, but then brightened. "Well, now that the news is over and done with, why don't we proceed to the stage, where I believe everyone is already waiting..."

He extended his arm to show us the way, and Inuyasha and I glared at him as we passed him. "What a bouzo..." Inuyasha muttered. 

"Yeah..." I murmured. 

Both of us stopped suddenly because this was the first time we had spoken to each other since last night. It lasted for only a second, and then we turned away from each other with a "hmph" and a "feh!" as we continued onwards down the street. Soon we were arriving at a field. I could hear a loud noise of chatter and shouts as we neared the huge stage which I had a strong feeling was constructed just for this event. 

As we stepped onto the stage, my stomach churned. There were close to a hundred people standing in the crowd- and all of them were going to watch me. Many stared at us curiously as we came into view. Some gazed at Inuyasha with nervous expressions while others pointed at my clothes as we took our place in front of two podiums. Bells were laid out on both. I could feel myself blushing as I was suddenly reminded of the time Shippo had shown his pictures of Inuyasha and me arguing about Kouga to the entire village. That had been nothing compared to what I was currently facing. 

Miroku-sama was selling last-minute tickets by the entryway. "Half-price to all you lovely young ladies!" he said, smiling brightly at the group of women who had gathered. 

Sango-chan glared at him. "Er...of course, this is only a limited time offer!" he amended, exchanging tickets for the money. 

Finally, the time had come. The crowd cheered as Miroku-sama, Sango-chan, and Shippo all took their places in the judge's booth. They had a pile of questions ready, and Miroku-sama stood up to announce the rules. 

Miroku-sama cleared his throat and waved for silence. "We have here two competitors: Kagome and Inuyasha." He paused as the crowd burst into ovation. "The game in which these contenders will compete is something called Jeopardy!".

I gave a start as I heard the name, and I felt myself starting to smile. This was something I was familiar with. "The game comes from Kagome's land, where contestants have to answer questions, all worth a certain amount of points. The contestant with the most number of points is then declared the winner."

As he continued to explain the rules, my heart pounded within me so intensely that I felt that it was going to jump out at any moment. Finally, Miroku-sama finished, and Sango-chan stood up and unveiled a painted wooden board in the back of the stage. Many pieces of paper were pinned to the board, each reading a certain number of points. She began to read the categories. "Kagome," she said, pointing at me, "You will go first."

I nodded, and chose "science" for 400. "This is the net movement of water from an area of relative high concentration to an area of relative low concentration," she read. 

The sound of bells twinkling rang almost simultaneously, but I was faster. Sango-chan had heard the split second difference as well, and she pointed at me. "Kagome," she said, nodding for me to answer. 

"What is osmosis?"

She smiled and nodded. "That is correct, Kagome. You have received 400 points."

The crowd cheered loudly for me while I beamed. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Inuyasha looking cross. I grinned. "Geography for 200," I said. 

The next question came: "The North and South American continents were named after this Italian explorer."

The bell rang...

It was Inuyasha who answered the question. "Who is Amerigo Vespucci?" he drawled out casually. The crowd cheered, this time with more buzzing as they took bets on who would win. 

The game had begun. 

*****************************************************************

**A/N**: And…to be continued yet again. Sheesh, I really need to work on limiting my words. It's like the ending of the LOTR Return of the King (which I just saw today ^ - ^) - it just drags on and on and on…anyway, ahem, thanks for reviewing everyone! 

Yuna141: I'm really glad you liked my story! There's so many Inuyasha fics out there that this one's pretty easy to miss, but I'm happy that you managed to find it and enjoy it as much as you did. Thanks!

Snippets: Thanks again for being my most loyal reader and supporter *wipes away tear* Yep, don't worry- the next chapter will be out soon, promise!

Aethernyx: Yay! Thanks for reviewing, and yes, I agree- Shippo plus chocolates don't mix. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Kuikkick: *cheers* So you finally reviewed, huh? Well, yay! Thanks! And oh yes…well Inuyasha's smarter than he looks, so he probably learned how to read during the time he's spent with Kagome. But yeah- more to come soon!

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Next Time on Attack of the Filler Arc: The competition really starts to heat up, and Kagome's evil plan finally comes into play. What will happen, and who will win? Find out soon!


	5. Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai: Part III

**A/N**: Hello again, everyone! I'm back from my winter retreat and I'm so happy I updated this quickly- it's a new record for this story, yay! ^ - ^ Anyway, take out the popcorn and enjoy the startling conclusion of this three-part mini-drama (which I hope will never have to be **this long again -_-;;)…and Happy New Year! *takes out blower-thingy and blows***

Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai (Part III)

(As told by Kagome)

"The inverse functions for cosine, sine, and tangent- Kagome!"

"What are cosecant, secant, and cotangent?"

"That is correct!"

"This group of elements in the periodic table is chemically stable- and... it's close, but the question goes to Kagome again!"

"What are the noble gases!"

"That is the correct answer!"

The crowd went wild again. I had accumulated 1200 points, while Inuyasha was hot on my trail with 1000. My heart hadn't stopped fluttering since the game had started. 

"This writer's first novel _This Side of Paradise was an instant bestseller in 1920."_

A brief pause, and then the bell rang for Inuyasha. "Who is F. Scott Fitzgerald?" he answered. 

"That is the correct answer. Next, this person was the writer of the Communist Manifesto."

Inuyasha rang in before I did. "Inuyasha," Sango-chan announced, pointing at him for an answer. 

"Who is Karl Marx?" he stated. 

"That is correct, and that also concludes round one of the competition. Inuyasha and Kagome are both tied with 1200 points. In the next round, each question will be worth double the points, and the difficulty level will be raised."

Sango-chan sat back down in her seat, while Miroku-sama stood up and prepared to read the questions. "Let's begin Round 2! Since both of you are tied currently, Kagome gets to choose first." 

"The Art of War for 800," I selected. The question came: "This weapon of mass destruction, created during the Cold War, is 20 times more powerful than its WWII predecessor."

I was about to ring the bell, when I suddenly stopped myself just in time. My heart started thumping rapidly as I realized that my evil plan was finally going to come into play…

Beside me, I heard Inuyasha ring the bell. "Inuyasha," Miroku-sama said.

I saw him smirk slightly. "What is Herbal Essences Hair Gel?" he said confidently. 

There was an awkward silence, in which the audience leaned in expectantly and I felt an evil grin spread over my face. Miroku-sama eyed the answer in his hand for a second, confused, as he scanned it for an alternative answer. After a moment, he said slowly, "That is incorrect." 

As I rang the bell, I could barely contain myself from sniggering at Inuyasha, who looked just as dumbfounded as Miroku-sama had been. "What is the hydrogen bomb?" I said, casting a quick glance towards the hanyou.  

"Yes, that would be 800 points for Kagome-sama," he said. 

Inuyasha immediately turned towards me, suspicious. I ignored him. 

"In 1793, this invention caused cotton production to be dramatically increased and contributed to the expansion of slavery in the United States of America."

Again, I didn't ring in. 

"What is 100% cotton lingerie?" Inuyasha answered this time. There was another pause as Miroku-sama examined the card carefully again. Seeing as there was no other spelling that came close to "lingerie", he replied, "I'm sorry, but that answer is also incorrect."

I rang in at this point. "What is the cotton gin?" I said. 

"Yes, that is the correct answer."

I smiled. I was already leading by 1400 points. By the looks of things, though, Inuyasha was catching onto me. His glare indicated that he knew I had done something, but he didn't know what exactly. 

"This Florentine artist during the High Renaissance period is accredited with his innovations in his paintings, his sculptures, architecture, engineering, and science."

This time, Inuyasha waited for me to ring. When five seconds had gone by, he slowly moved to ring the bell.

"Leonardo..." he began, looking at me. I tried my best to keep a straight face. 

"DiCaprio."

Miroku-sama sighed, and waved his card around, frowning. "That's closer than before, I suppose, but that's still not the right answer." He looked directly at me. 

"Kagome-sama?"

"Who is Leonardo Da Vinci?" I responded. All of a sudden, I heard Inuyasha sharply drawing in his breath. I sighed. At least I had gotten away with three questions before he figured it out. 

"You rigged the notes, didn't you?" he snarled. 

There was a gasp from the audience, and then some more buzzing. I turned to him and smiled. "It's not my problem," I said, tossing my hair in his direction. "You're the one who stole them."

The audience oohed at this point, reminding me of an overrated American talk show. All that was missing was a round of "Jerry, Jerry!" from the crowd. The feud between Inuyasha and me had attracted much attention, which was probably why Miroku-sama decided to overlook my little confession and continue with the questions. 

"This disputed territory between the French and the Germans was a factor that led to WWI."

"What is Alsace-Lorraine?" I answered, while beside me I heard Inuyasha grumble "peppermint breath mints", the answer I had written just for him, unhappily to himself. I snickered, knowing that he would miss some questions for sure. But so would I, as I soon found out.

"Quantum theory is primarily based on this principle."

I froze. Why didn't I know this one? I was surprised even further when beside me I heard the bell ring. 

"What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?" Inuyasha answered. I was shocked. How did he know this one and I didn't? Turning smugly to me, he grinned. "While you were out fishing at the river, I was doing my homework."

I grew flustered, but I ignored him. I had sabotaged his notes, and he had stolen some of my valuable studying time. Fine. So we were even. 

The battle raged forth. At times, questions that I had given wrong answers to for Inuyasha came up, and sometimes, questions that I hadn't studied for while being trapped at the river were given. When we both knew an answer, we jumped at the chance to answer. 

"What is the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty?!!" we both screamed in unison once, forgetting entirely that we had to ring the bell first. It wasn't just a game anymore: it was a full-out war. 

Finally, it was down to Final Jeopardy.  

The score was 3600 to 3200. I was still leading at this point, but at this crucial stage in the game, it could go either way. The audience was at the height of excitement; nearly everyone had placed bets on either one of us, and the stakes were high. The crowd listened in hushed silence as Miroku-sama announced the final category: biology.

I thought carefully. Biology was an area I had completely covered, so it would be worthwhile to raise the stakes. I was about to place down my bet when suddenly a shriek pierced through the crowd. A woman shoved her way through, screaming, "Youkai! Youkai! It's eaten people already! Everyone, please run!"

I gasped. The crowd, as if on fire, started to panic. People started to run away from the stage and scattered to the forests and beyond the town. In the distance, I could hear a deafening roar as something big made its way closer. Inuyasha frowned, irritated. "What now?" he grumbled, and turned to Miroku-sama and Sango-chan. "What do you think that thing is?"

Sango-chan listened carefully. "It sounds like a bear youkai to me," she said. 

Inuyasha slid Tetsusaiga out of its sheath quickly. "Well, in that case, it shouldn't be a problem- hey!!" he shouted to the fleeing crowd. "All you people who're running away! There's nothing to be afraid of here. I can take care of that youkai easily."

Some immediately stopped in their tracks as they heard the hanyou's voice. Soon, people had gathered back at the stage, peering with wonder at who could be so confident and calm at a time like this. Inuyasha grinned. "Today you will all see who the real champion is," he said, smirking at me. "I'm going to go fight off the youkai, and Kagome can stay here, since it's just about the only thing she can do."

Suddenly, all I saw was red. Inuyasha's words echoed over and over in my head, "…the only thing she can do…only thing she can do…" A surge of fury and wrath overwhelmed my entire being. I was finally at the breaking point. Compared to how I was feeling now, I had handled everything else with superhuman patience and coolness. 

I gave out a strangled cry and stomped offstage. The people below seemed to sense my dangerous mood, and stepped out of the way. Inuyasha was clueless as usual. "Hey! Where're you going?" 

I turned back to him with a sinister, red-hot glare that startled everyone to death. Not even Kikyo could've pulled that off. "Can't do anything, huh? I'll show you what I can do!!" And with that, I marched over to where Sango-chan and the others were. I scooped up an unsuspecting Kirara into my arms and moved past them. She mewed loudly and cast a pitiful look at her mistress, struggling to escape. 

I ignored her and Sango-chan's pleas to stop, and threw Kirara into the sky. She transformed mid-air, and with one swift movement, I hopped on. "Hold it!" Inuyasha shouted, lunging for my leg. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

It was a bad move. "OSUWARI!"

Having gotten rid of any unwanted obstacles, I scanned the area below us, looking for signs of the bear youkai. Suddenly, I saw it. It towered above all the trees in the forest on the outskirts of the town, roaring ferociously and carving out a steady path towards the town. I narrowed my eyes. I had to take it on. 

 Reaching behind me for my bow and arrows, I nearly fell off in surprise. Instead of the quiver I usually strapped to my back, I could feel my backpack, filled with textbooks and other junk. I had forgotten to take my weapons with me. My fists squeezed tightly together. Now what was I going to do?

Luckily, right at that instant, I spotted a pile of rocks lying below. Next to them, lay a slingshot. "Kirara!" I called, pointing at the spot. She nodded and dove down. I leaned over and grabbed the slingshot and a pile of stones, stretching my shirt out. We headed back up into the air. The bear youkai was right in front of us. It was now or never. Taking one of the small rocks, I placed it in the slingshot and aimed for the grotesque head. 

"Here goes!" I shouted. The rock sailed through the atmosphere, as deadly as a hawk, towards the target…

And missed miserably by at least a few hundred meters. I groaned. Kirara gave a snort. Okay, so I still needed to work on my projectile skills. I gritted my teeth in dismay. I had never wished so hard to have my bow and arrows with me. Suddenly, the bear swished its huge body around, facing us at eye level. I gulped. A huge paw came sweeping at us…

I screamed as Kirara dove to avoid it. The slingshot and rocks were flung off instantly, and I barely managed to hold on. Another paw came at us. And then another. I reached desperately into my backpack for anything I could throw. Shampoo bottles, hair spray, and deodorant came sailing down, but the assault did nothing but anger the creature. Soon I had run out of feminine hygiene products, and was forced to throw out unopened bowls of ramen. One package caught the youkai in the eye, and it roared in pain. 

I was about to cheer when suddenly a paw knocked the air from me. I gasped as I felt my chest being squeezed. I was in the clutches of the youkai. The monster lifted me up to its hideous face. I struggled to no avail. Suddenly, I startled. I could sense a shikon shard lodged inside its throat. So that was how it had gotten so big. 

The youkai opened its mouth, revealing long rows of teeth. I turned my face away from the putrid smell. Suddenly, I let out a squeak. I was being lifted closer to the deadly maw. I closed my eyes in terror. Something strange happened then. The sounds and sensations faded away slowly, and then I heard Inuyasha's voice. I could see him standing in front of me, chanting, "Today you will all see who the real champion is…"

Suddenly I gave out a roar. I was here to prove that was I was a worthy adversary. What was I doing, just letting myself be eaten by a youkai? With an impossible amount of strength, I squeezed my arms from the bear's grasp. Reaching for my backpack, I fished out a textbook. I concentrated on summoning my miko powers. Suddenly, the textbook shone with a dazzling violet aura, and then I hurled the magic object down into the awaiting throat. There was a pause, and then a gurgling sound came. I felt the grip around my waist being relaxed. I charged another textbook with my aura, and chucked it down its throat again. 

The bear struggled to breathe, waving its arms around wildly. I braced myself. Kirara came dashing up to me. "Kirara!" I shouted. The cat youkai lifted me up and onto her back. And just in time, because the next instant the bear youkai plummeted to the ground. It immediately shrank in size, and I ran over to it as Kirara landed on the ground. I pulled the shard out and held it before me victoriously. 

"Kagome!!"

I turned around at the sound. Inuyasha flew through the thicket towards me…

And embraced me tightly. "I-Inuyasha?" I murmured. I could feel his heart pounding furiously. He nudged me back to look at my face. I was speechless. His face was contorted in the most worried face I had ever seen, breathing heavily. "You're not hurt, are you?" he inquired anxiously. 

I shook my head weakly. "You are the stupidest wench I have ever met! How could you do something so stupid? You might've been killed!"

He suddenly gripped my shoulders, gluing his eyes to mine. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his golden eyes glowing with regret and relief.  

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Sango-chan and Miroku-sama arrived on the scene. "Kagome-chan! Are you all right?" 

I nodded towards the two, and turned back to Inuyasha. "No…I should be the one who's sorry," I said softly. "I acted foolishly…"

"It was because of me," he said. I smiled. "Well, I guess."

He sighed. "Promise me you won't ever do something like that again," he said. I nodded.

Miroku-sama examined the dead bear. "At least in the end, everything is well. I'm just glad that Kagome-sama's safe," he said. "Although…how did you manage to kill the youkai without your arrows?"

I smiled cryptically. "Let's just say that the bear ate my homework," I said. The others gave me a puzzled look. I slapped my forehead. "Oh! I almost forgot! We still have to finish our competition," I said, turning to Inuyasha. 

Everyone suddenly went quiet. Inuyasha suddenly shuffled around nervously, looking as if he wished he hadn't come find me. "Well, actually, you see…since you ran off in the middle of the game, I'm the winner now."

I saw red all over again. "WHAT????!!!!!!"

In the background, I could hear Sango-chan and Miroku-sama start to groan as we began to exchange flaming words and insults. 

"What do you say we bring all the townspeople here? I bet they'd pay big money to see this," Miroku-sama whispered. 

Sango-chan rolled her eyes. "Hmm…might as well."

And so another normal peaceful day passed in the Sengoku Jidai.

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**A/N**: -_-;; Sorry about the awful "bear" joke I made Kagome say, I couldn't resist! Anyway, for those of you who were looking forward to a less clichéd ending, I'm terribly sorry! The only reason I didn't let one or the other win for real is that I love them both to bits! Or actually I just, I don't know -_-; Whew…that little episode(s) took a lot out of me. For those of you S/M fans, I think I'm ready for some action next chapter, heh heh (although the next chapter probably isn't going to come as soon as this one did…but oh well, I'm working on it!)

Xo-Kagome-ox: Yay! I have a new reviewer! Thanks for checking out my story. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, lol. 

AnimeSoul3: You don't know how glad I am to hear that! I kept hoping that this fic wouldn't turn out too clichéd or weird to the point that all the characters are, well, OOC. But yes, like I said, thanks for taking the time to read and review this story- Inuyasha would've been proud (I don't know why I just said that, but oh well).

Lostspirit00: Hello! Glad you stopped by and reviewed. The three are back together again! *cheers* Creative, huh? Then that means I did something right, lol. Anyway, I hope to get the next chapter of 1:3 RP out soon…soon…I hope…

Snippets: Hey there- you went snowboarding? Haha, me too! It was my first time snowboarding also- I took lessons for more than two hours on one slope and barely learned to stand up on my board, and then I gave up and went down another slope with one of my friends. He taught me for like only a half-hour and in that time I learned much more than I did during the lessons. By the end of that tiny impromptu session, I was cruising (well, sorta) down the hill. Huh, figures. Anyway, hope you had fun. At least you put on a good show for the people on the lifts ^ - ^. And oh yeah, I was at a retreat for these past few days. I'll tell you more about that later, though. Oh well, Happy New Year!

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Next Time on Attack of the Filler Arc: When Kagome brings back fortune cookies from her world, Miroku receives a deadly message inside. Soon, bad luck seems to follow him everywhere. Is the fortune really coming true? And is he going to die in five days as it predicts? Heh, not if Sango can help it!


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